the graveyard shift
by nadeau
Summary: In which Orihime's curiosity gets the best of her. — AU. Mature IchiHime.
1. Chapter 1

**warning; **this story contains explicit language, violence, and sexual themes.  
**disclaimer; **all bleach characters belong to Tite Kubo.

**synopsis;** a young girl in need of money to continue her education takes a job at the local mental institute. the job is as weird as it should be, but when she takes the night shift, it's about to get weirder...

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**the graveyard shift**  
chapter one

* * *

Nelliel tu Odelschwank laid a tall cup of black coffee by the register, shaking her head as Inoue Orihime placed two hundred yen on the counter.

"It's on the house this time," Nel offered. The redhead doesn't smile, but her eyes twinkle like they always did when she was amused. Nel raised a brow, "You have to stay up all night, ne? You're gonna need that coffee."

Orihime knew that Nel would have made the drink on the house whether or not she was working the night shift. But, she played along anyways. The emerald-headed woman had always given her free coffee ever since she first started working at the place.

"Un, first all-nighter! Who would've thought I'd actually stay there that long?" Orihime chirped, taking a sip from the heated beverage.

She exchanged a few more words with her friend before leaving the coffee house and zipping her jacket up, causing it to tighten around her form. The snow had been coming down heavier and heavier by the day since the beginning of September. It was unusual for the first snow to come so early in the year, but Orihime shrugged the thought off and doesn't question it. She enjoyed the white color, the way the tiny flakes feel as they touch her skin just to melt back to a liquid form. She loved the way her shoes felt crunching in it and how the barren trees look with small icicles hanging from a branch.

And for once, she was happy with the way her life was going. Things have only been getting better since she started working at the local mental institute for the certifiably insane. Of course, when she thought about it like that, it sounded absolutely awful, as though it was a terrible place to work. But, she knew it truly not.

It had been a month prior when she started her job hunt, something she never had to do before. Orihime formally worked at her brother's business since she was sixteen years-old, but thanks to a long dispute between the both of them, she had been fired and had yet to see nor hear from him since. She acted like it didn't bother her, though it had cut her deeply that her own brother would throw her out of the line which would had lead her to rule the successful company.

Orihime looked high and low for a job until she had come across this incredible job. All things considered, it was decent. Of course, there had been a few incidents where abnormal phenomenons happened. Once, a male patient had a breakdown and he was sent downstairs, otherwise known as the place where Orihime and other nurses were not allowed to enter. Not as though Orihime wanted to anyways.

But, all in all, it was normal as a mental institute could be. Of course, she had always worked the day shift.

Now, it was time for the haunting to begin. She had to stifle a laugh at the thought. Everyone was always telling her that it was weird, creepy down there. Two guards stay during the night for the whole section, which consisted of about fifteen to twenty patients. These patients were the ones kept in the padded cells, some in strait jackets—basically, the insane, non-trustworthy freaks.

The graveyard shift meant that Orihime might have to fill in if anything went amiss or if one of the guards had to leave, meaning she would have to leave her safe post upstairs and enter the hell that held rumors which could potentially give small children nightmares.

And this thought made her _excited_.

The mental institute was a pretty big place, considering that it held all the crazies from Karakura Town and a bit further. Orihime was amazed at the number of patients when she had first got there. Who would've known that this many people were considered certifiably _insane_?

Hirako Shinji, one of the male nurses, walked up to Orihime with a brilliant smile. This was another reason why she enjoyed her job—the attractive co-workers. Shinji was always flirting with her, the kind of flirting that makes a girl sigh happily and enter into a dreamy-like state on the inside (oh yeah, you know the feeling).

"Inoue-chan, you have to take downstairs tonight. Ask Urahara how things work, and you'll be good to go." He winked at her before he dashed around the corner. She released a deep breath and slumped down. Looking towards the stairs which lead downward into the so-called 'depths of hell,' she slipped out of her jacket and shrugged into her customary scrubs.

Now that she put thought into the scenario, downstairs wasn't all that freaky.

Okay, she was lying. It was giving her the chills just being down there. Something smelled weird, as if some health code wasn't up to date, and sunlight doesn't get in since its underground, unlike the rest of the facility. Upstairs always seemed friendly and inviting, like they were curing someone to help them get a second chance. Down there, the atmosphere was more like when someone had given up and just forgotten the problem.

The rows of cells form a straight line before curving, and she tried to ignore the noises coming from each cell as she walked down the hall. Moans were heard, curses, screaming, but what scared her the most had to be the insane, manic laughter coming from cell twelve. It was husky, deep, but utterly entertained. She went over to the door and slid the small slit that let her look through before yelping and shutting it back as fast as she can.

She let out another yelp when someone shouted at her from down the hall, "Inoue-san~! Get over here so I can teach ya the rules~!" She followed the sound of Urahara's voice and tried not to dwell on what she just saw.

The way those dark brown eyes had been right beside the peep hole, like he had known she was going to look, scared the ever-loving hell out of her. The laughter continued as Urahara started listing off rules to her, and she did her best not to think about it, which wasn't working at all.

**...**

Orihime had learned that, really, the night shift was_ boring_.

All she had done was switch with Urahara Kisuke every thirty minutes, in which one of them sat at the desk, waiting for phone calls, and the other roamed the halls, patrolling and making sure no one got too crazy in one of their cells. Of course, no one had yet, making for three boring hours with (oh, joy) four more to go. She sighed audibly at her spot in the desk chair.

She then heard the phone go off, causing her to jump in happiness. Finally, something exciting. Sadly, when she answered the phone, it wasn't for her.

"Can I speak to Urahara Kisuke, please?" The voice sounded familiar, and Orihime was quick to identify who the person was—her boss, Sosuke Aizen. voice belonged. He was a rather sneaky and shady man. His voice was a purr, but she knew better than to trust it.

Nodding, she called for Urahara down the hallway, causing a large echo to reverberate throughout the hall. Urahara came from behind the corner, snatching the phone from her hand before muttering so quietly that she couldn't catch what he said. She heard Aizen say something in return. At his words, Urahara only nodded (as though Aizen could see it) and hung up the phone.

He turned to Orihime, a large smile was on his face. "Are you good enough to hold the post down here on your lonesome for a half hour?"

She felt her throat suddenly go dry, but he cut her off before she could complain. "Aizen needs help on some very important business, unless you wanna go and question him…"

"No!" She replied quickly, not at all willing to lose her job yet so early in the game. "I'm sure I'll be fine…" She looked around the rows of dark cells and gulped. "Just thirty minutes?"

"Promise~" Urahara swore, chuckling as he went back around the hallway and opened the door to the staircase, only to slam it shut a few seconds later.

Suddenly, she became terrified. Hoping the term 'they can smell fear' wasn't true in this situation, she sat at the desk and casually fiddled with some paperwork that she couldn't seem to focus on. For some reason, the block of cells had gone eerily quiet. She tried not to lose her control, she tried not to lose her sanity.

'For Kami-sama's sake,' she thought, gripping onto her skirt. 'Get a grip, Orihime!' She was always the determined one when compared to others, the one who was always willing to take on a challenge. 'This does not scare me! No, not in the least.'

Of course, now she had to make a round around the cells again. She tried not to acknowledge the fact that her stomach had dropped to the soles of her feet and grabbed her flashlight, slowly and cautiously walking down the aisle.

She was passing the last of the cells in the block when she heard_ it._

_So your new here, that right?_

She looked and glanced around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from. She couldn't tell, the voice was thick, deep, but not coming from any direction in particular. In fact, the voice seemed like it was coming from—

_Inside your head._

She quickly placed a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. 'What is going on?' She thought nervously, her head frantically glancing around cells. She felt as if she was going crazy, that was the only answer. She had caught whatever these people in here have that made them utterly insane…

_Princess, I ain't off my rocker, not yet. Your not delusional, I really am speakin' to you._

She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Now she can only pray she was mental.

_If you open up cell twelve, I can speak to you directly. No more of this mind-reading bullshit. It kinda hurts to do, you know. It hurts my head. __I ain't gonna hurt you. Look inside the cell. I'm all tied up, couldn't do shit if I wanted to._

Cell twelve? It was the same one she had heard the maniacal laughter from before, but she couldn't help but walk a few steps towards the door. She really didn't want to turn crazy, it was just one shift. One shift, and she didn't want to be losing it already.

What could it hurt to just take a peek?

She slid the small slit open and looked inside for the second time that night, seeing a dark, shadowed form in the corner, the body wrapped in a strait jacket and bare feet shackled. She scared herself when she felt the set of keys Urahara entrusted her with twirling between her fingers.

_Well, you can't even see me from there. You have to come in so I can see your pretty face. Come on, let a poor soul know who his guardian angel is. I promise I ain't gonna hurt you. I won't put a scratch anywhere on your pretty little frame._

The voice inside her head was like velvet, husky and convincing. It sounded like a voice that should be reserved for the bedroom, the way it swivels in her head like a river, wrapping around her mind in rivets. Before she even knows what she was doing, the key had turned in the lock and the door was automatically cracked. She stared at the door for several moments before the luscious voice returned.

_Now come on in, love. I'm just a man, nothing more._

'Nothing more,' she thought. 'Of course, that's why I'm hearing a voice in my head, because you're nothing but just a man in a strait jacket.' And yet, she still found herself toeing the door open.

Moonlight sinks in from the barred window, making everything else have a faint, glow-like tinge. The padded walls aren't their usual bright white in the darkness; they look more like a dark gray of a faded cloud. The man was sitting with his back to the corner of the cell, and she could only see his bright-brown eyes from this distance. They are mocking her, crazed-looking eyes, as if seeing straight through her.

"Come on. I can't see you from over there."

Orihime found herself slinking towards the voice, her body moving of its own accord. In her head, this was wrong. In her mind, this was a death trap waiting to snap at any given moment.

But in her heart, it felt like an angel was calling for her. His voice was so soft, ever so soft…

She was only inches away when she finally saw his face.

He was wearing the standard white pants and white shirt, except the long sleeves have been hidden from view due to the strait jacket. His mouth was spread into a smirk, his amber eyes narrowed. His body was well-toned, and his skin was nicely tanned. His bright, orange hair fell over his pierced face. His eyes grew dark, and the smirk grew wider.

Then, he's on her.


	2. Chapter 2

**the graveyard shift**  
chapter two

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Orihime felt her breath hitch when the man landed on top of her. He was by no means small in any sense; his frame and built was much stronger to her own, seeing as how she only stood at 5'2. The wind was knocked out of her as she heard his sharp chuckle in her ear. An unbelievably long tongue leaned out to lick and nibble at the appendage, and through her struggles, she felt her body reacting to his touch.

'Oh no, you don't!' She thought, eyes widening. 'You need to fight against this dirty, crazy, handsome, masculine, sexy thing of a male...' Orihime blushed and quickly shook her head to remove her sudden perverse thoughts. 'Who is in a straight jacket, no less!'

She came back to her senses and starts pawing and clawing at his chest, trying to avoid the impure thoughts that come to mind when she felt hard, rough muscles under her hands. Suddenly, she felt something hard press against her thigh; she stiffened, automatically recognizing it as his erection.

_You got a dirty mind, love, I like that... _The voice was in her head again, sharp and deep and rumbling, but it was closer now, even easier to hear than before. She felt another long lick to her ear, this one messier than the last.

_While I would love to continue this... I don't particularly have time today, Princess. _At this, she felt more than hearing his next words. It felt as though they are reverberating through her entire body. The sound was a weird, distorted echo of a voice. Confusion laced over her mind as she heard whoops and hollers of joy from outside of the cell. Someone had to hear this. Urahara would be back any moment to help, right? She wasn't doomed—

The man's ringing laughter made her glance upward to his straight jacket clad form, his black eyes and amber orbs glinting with malice. "Bullshit. Urahara is way too damn afraid of us," he cackled, leaning down and sloppily licking her cheek. She shuddered in disgust. "They're leaving you for dead, love."

"Enough!" She finally found her voice, punching and hitting the man with all her strength. "I don't know what is going on here, I'm probably just crazy, or maybe the coffee from earlier messed with my head... but I'm not letting you take advantage of me!"

The brown-eyed man smirked. "Think what you want, Sweetheart." _It's people like you that are always the easiest. _Orihime writhed underneath him, and his smirk quickly grew into a scowl. "Stop moving so much, Princess, or I'm gonna have to make you stop."

"Screw you," she seethed, gasping when she feels a sharp pain on her right shoulder. "W-what are you..."

The man came back up with a forlorn smile, teeth messy with blood. Her blood. She brought a slow, shaky hand up to feel her neck, recoiling when she feels a warm and wet substance staining her collar bone. "You... b-bit... me..."

"I forgot how good a soul tastes, after being in here for so damn long. He licked his lips, "You're so pure, so innocent, you taste—"

She began to lose focus, his words becoming jumbled and gargled, and then his face slowly went black in front of her eyes.

**...**

When she woke up, she was surprised to find herself lying in a comfortable bed. It only took her a moment to realize that it wasn't her bed.

"W-what is going on here?" She asked in fear, remembering everything that had happened. "Where am I—"

A calloused hand clamped over her mouth, a voice in her ear hissing, "Shhh, ya little bitch! Kurosaki told me to keep an eye on ya, I'm just keeping ya safe..." She shuddered when she realized the voice is another male, rough and slimy-like.

"W-what do you want from me?" She nervously asked, trying to sound as intimidating as she could. "Let me go home!"

"Sorry, Kurosaki is keeping ya for a reason. I haven't gotten further orders than that."

"Kurosaki?"

"The one who read your mind. Ya know, the goofy redhead."

"... Ah."

"... Are ya hungry?"

She raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Un..."

"Good. I haven't had human food in years. I'm Grimmjow, by the way."

Orihime flinched when the pitch black room was suddenly flooded with light, revealing the body that wielded the rough voice. He was tan with bright, teal hair and seemingly blue eyes. Instead of wearing a straight jacket like the other male, he was dressed in a loose t-shirt and sweatpants.

"What's going on? What are you people?"

Grimmjow's eyebrows raised. "What are we? We're experiments fer that stupid ass institute. We have different souls and different abilities than ya normal people. Kurosaki can read minds, I can levitate things."

Nodding, Orihime smiled. "Oh, I get it. I was working the night shift at my job, but now I've been captured by psychopaths. Un, it's all crystal clear now! Arigatou, Grimmjow-san."

The male seethed, "I'm tellin' the fuckin' truth—"

Before he could finish, Orihime untangled herself from the bed sheets and jumped out of the bed.

"Where you going?" Another voice asked.

"I'm leaving—" Her breath was caught in her throat when she realized it wasn't the same man talking. She turned around, finding another man with black hair and turquoise eyes standing next to Grimmjow. "There are more of you?"

The male ignored her question, only to stare at her with unemotional-filled eyes.

Grimmjow sighed in frustration. "Look, we're not bad people!"

"That's because you're not _people _at all! You said it yourself!" Orihime hissed at him. "Humans can't do this type of stuff! Humans can't levitate, humans can't mess with your mind, humans can't—"

_Princess, I'm gonna have to ask you to calm down and stop giving my friends such a hard time._

She gasped, hearing that familiar voice again in her head again. The two males in the room turned towards the door, and Orihime slowly turned to face it as well. She had only gotten one quick glance at the man before, but there was no mistaking who he was; that cunning smirk, those mirth-filled eyes, the utter delicious body and face...

_Oh, stop it. You're making me blush._

"Let me go!" She yelled, trying to conceal her blush. "I don't know what is wrong with you people, but you need to go back to the mental institute!"

Grimmjow sighed. "I swear she's gone mad after ya brought her here." Suddenly, his eyes grew, and he scowled in realization. "Wait... Ya fuckin' bit her, didn't ya?"

The man grinned, showing all of his teeth which are still tainted with Orihime's blood. "I saw something I wanted, and I took it. She's_ mine_ now."

"Y-yours?!" Orihime asked in bewilderment, shock.

"Yes, _mine_," he replied.

She gasped again, when, just as quickly as the night before, he was on her. She tried to throw a punch, but her hand wouldn't move.

_I've got power over you, power the likes of which you've never dreamed of._

Trying to spit words back at him, she found herself resisting. It was like being over taken by some weird, alternate personality—one that doesn't want to fight back. The man lifted the neck of her shirt, pressing his thumb against the bite marks he left. Orihime felt herself arching her back into the press, a euphoric numbness settling over her.

She had to stop this.

_That's the funny part—__you can't stop it. See, we are mates now. I gave you some of my soul, you gave me some of yours... We mated._

She felt her eyes widen in horror.

_For life._

"W-what do you mean?" She stuttered as her mind went insane.

He smirked, smoothing her hair down with his hand. "It means I own you. The only thing you'll ever need is me now."

"Ichigo," Ulquiorra, the other male, muttered. "Are you serious? Did you really mate with that woman?"

"Do you have a fucking problem with that?" He roughly said with a growl, low and dark from his throat. He quickly clutched Orihime into his chest, wrapping his arms around her protectively.

Ulquiorra's facial expression remained the same. "No. I'm hoping you know what that means."

Ichigo stared at him for a moment before hissing, "Get out, the both of you."

Standing up from where he had been sitting, Grimmjow grabbed Ichigo's neck and scowled darkly at him. "Gladly," he seethed. "Oh, and by the way, yer little _whore_ isn't safe here. Aizen and Urahara are out lookin' fer her, as well as us."

"What don't you fucking understand about 'getting out'?" He repeated.

When they finally leave, he stood up and shut the door, leaning his head on it and chuckling under his breath. Orihime felt her eyes widen and breath hitch when he turned around, his eyes darkening considerably with lust.

"Ready to play, Princess?**"**

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**a/n; **a quick explanation: no, ichigo and the gang are not vampires. they are hollows who eat on souls, just like in the bleach universe. i just simply added some more abilities for them to have in the mix (i.e. reading minds, levitating objects, mating by eating each other's souls). so, i hope that clears things up.

also, the soul society will not have a part in this fic. that means no shinigamis will be included except for the ones that were banned (i.e. aizen, urahara, shinj). plus, the 'experiments' will solely be the former arrancars and ichigo (i.e. grimmjow, ulquiorra).


End file.
